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A UKIP parliamentary candidate made “evil” comments yesterday about the Syrian toddler who was photographed washed up on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey.
Peter Bucklitsch, who stood to become MP for Wimbledon this year, said that Aylan Kurdi and his family had no reason to flee war-torn Syria because the three-year-old did not look destitute.
He said that Aylan’s “greedy” parents risked their lives crossing the treacherous Mediterranean, in a dinghy that capsized, just to live the “good life in Europe.”
Mr Bucklitsch, a former Lib Dem councillor, wrote on Twitter: “The little Syrian boy was well clothed and well fed. He died because his parents were greedy for the good life in Europe. Queue-jumping costs.”
After people called him “vile” and “evil” he added: “Predictable unthinking outrage. Turkey is not a place where the family was in danger. Leaving that safe place put the family in peril.”
When the Star contacted a Ukip spokesman about the comments, and whether Mr Bucklitsch had been suspended, he said: “Ukip declines to comment.
“That is all I am authorised to say.”
Aylan died along with five-year-old brother Galip, mother Rehan and at least 12 others on the boat.
His father Abdullah, who borrowed £2,900 to pay human traffickers, survived but said he wants to return to their hometown Kobane to bury his family.
The Kurds sought to reach the Greek island Kos in their third attempt, as Kobane has been ravaged by Islamic State amid the Syrian civil war.
The boys’ aunt Teema Kurdi, who has lived in Canada for more than 20 years, said that she and her friends pooled funds to sponsor the family’s refugee application to join them in Vancouver, but it was rejected.
